Bed sheet and mattress pad with elasticized head and foot panels

ABSTRACT

A bed sheet with elastic side panels is made of a material body configured to substantially cover a mattress. The sheet is provided with a foot and head elastic panels that cover and end region of the mattress and side panels. A portion of each side panel adjacent the mattress corner is made of an elastic material. The foot and head elastic panels extend to and connect to the elastic portions of the sides panels. The elastic panels can be configured of one sheet of material in common with the foot and head panels or as separate panels covering an end portion, and opposing side portions. These separate panels are joined at the apex of a corner of the mattress.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

a. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a bed sheet covering, and more particularly, to a bed sheet covering incorporating elastic side panels. The bed sheet itself is a conventional covering material joined to elastic side panels. The elastic side panels are formed so as to cover the corners of a mattress. The elastic side panels and inelastic side panels are joined by seams so that the complete bed sheet has an elastic band circumferentially located on an outer perimeter of the bed sheet.

b. Description of the Related Art

In the art there exists a variety of known bed sheets for mattresses. A sub-portion of these prior art bed sheets possess an elastic band or strip of material so as to conform the sheet to the mattress. Prior art bed sheets with elastic portions use a variety of materials and means for conforming the bed sheet to the mattress. Known prior art bed sheets are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,574 to Kardell and U.S. Pat. No 7,398,570 to Seago et al.

Prior art mattresses lack the proper configuration of elastic material so as to ensure proper fit to a wide variety of mattresses sizes and styles. In particular, most prior art mattress coverings fail to properly conform to, or accommodate the vertical corners of a mattress. As such, these mattress coverings suffer from poor fit and constant slippage. Additionally, the prior art covers use a circumferential band of elastic material on the outer edge of the mattress covering. This small elastic band is insufficient to provide enough elastic recovery force to ensure that mattress coverings are not subject to slippage, improper fit and poor appearance. The incorporation of head and foot panels comprising elastic materials is an improvement over the art. However, it is clear that even with these additions, the prior art covers have obvious drawbacks that are addressed by the present invention.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,287,574 to Kardell (“Kardell”) is directed to a bed sheet with elasticized head and foot panels. The bed sheet of Kardell includes a fabric body to substantially cover a mattress and elastic foot and head panels joined to non-elastic top and side panels. An elasticized cord extends around the lower edged of the panels. FIG. 5 of Kardell shows a typical fitted sheet with elastic material attached to the top and side panels to form a bed sheet with elastic panels. Column 2, lines 45-60 of Kardell describe the head and foot panels as requiring a top dimension that is longer than the bottom dimension. In this way Kardell seeks to form head and foot panels that are roughly trapezoidal in shape. The shape of the panels is designed so that bed sheet asserts a greater tension on the lower portion of the side panels.

An obvious drawback of the structure described by Kardell is that the elastic head and foot panels have a shorter bottom surface than their top surface. As such the material body sheet must extend around the corners of the mattress in order to joint with the elastic head and foot panels. This results in non-elastic portions being at the corners, which leads to improper fit.

Another type of elastic bed sheet is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 7,398,570 to Seago (“Seago”). Seago is directed to a bed sheet having elastic head and foot panels integrated into its construction. Seago describes a top sheet (FIG. 3) that also has side panel covering extension of material (See 11, 3, and 23 of FIG. 4). Seago also describes a head and foot panel designed to cover the head and foot side portions of a mattress (See FIG. 4 and FIG. 3). Seago further describes an elastic end panel that covers the lower partial portion of the end wall of the mattress. (Col 3, Lns 65-Col 4, lns 5)

While the elastic bed sheet disclosed in Seago overcomes some of the drawbacks of the elastic panels found in Katten, the elastic panels in Seago fail to have elastic head and foot panels that encompass the corner regions of the mattress and can be either of a single formed sheet or of multiple formed panes joined together. Furthermore, Seago describes an elastic panel that does not cover the entire end wall portion of the mattress. Instead it is designed to only cover a lower portion of the end wall.

It would therefore be of benefit to provide a bed sheet having elastic side panels that encompass the end the entire mattress. Furthermore, it would be of benefit to provide elastic panels that cover the corners of the mattress. It would be of further benefit to provide these elastic side panels in one continuous sheet or in a series of joined portions depending on ease of use and construction. It is of further benefit to provide that these elastic panels be formed so as to cover at least a portion of the side walls of a mattress and be joined to a non-elastic material covering body which covers the remaining sidewalls of the mattress. Additionally it is of further benefits that the head and foot panels both have elastic panels that cover opposing sections of the sidewalls of the mattress.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is a bed sheet designed and configured to cover and conform to a mattress. The bed sheet comprises a material body sheet portion and elastic head and foot panel portions. The material body sheet is configured to cover the top side of a mattress. Additionally, the material body sheet is further configured to cover at least a portion of the opposing side walls of the mattress. The elastic head and foot panel portions are configured to cover the head wall and foot wall of the mattress. Additionally, the head and foot panels are configured to conform to the shape of the mattress corners. An additional aspect of the elastic foot and head panels is that the panels are configured to cover opposing sides of the mattress side walls.

The elastic head and foot panels are therefore configured to substantially cover at least one head or foot portion of the mattress and at least a portion of the opposing sidewalls adjacent to the head and foot walls of a mattress. The elasticized or elastic panels may be formed of a continuous sheet of elastic material or of separate formed side panels. The bed sheet may be configured to have an elastic band circumferentially located on the outer perimeter of the bed sheet. Furthermore, the material body sheet and the elastic portions may be joined by means of a seam or other fastener.

The material body of the bed sheet may be configured to cover a top wall of a mattress, as well as corresponding opposing portions of the mattress side walls. The material body may be formed out of a continuous material or it may comprise several different sheets of material of varying dimensions joined together by means of seams or other fasteners.

One embodiment of the present bed sheet is further characterized in that the material body side wall portions that extend between the elastic side wall portions may be formed so that the longitudinal length of a bottom portion is equal to the longitudinal length of a top portion. A further embodiment of the bed sheet is envisioned wherein the longitudinal length of the top portion is not equal to the longitudinal length of the bottom portion. In a still further embodiment the longitudinal lengths of the top and bottom portions of the side wall covering material body is the same on both sides, which may have the top portions shorter than the bottom portions or the top portions longer than the bottom. Furthermore, the elastic and material sheets may be the same length on both sides, different on both sides, longer on the top or longer on bottom. In an embodiment The elastic portion is joined to the material portion by means of a seam or other fastener.

The elastic material body may be formed of any suitable elastic material, including but not limited to elastic natural and synthetic fibers, natural and synthetic rubber sheeting, polymers, plastics and plasticized material. The material body top sheet may be formed of any non-elastic material suitable, including but not limited to natural or synthetic sheeting materials (e.g., cotton or Nylon) and plastics or plasticized materials.

The present invention solves the problems and overcomes the drawbacks and deficiencies of prior art bed sheets with elastic side panels by providing a bed sheet that is configured to use elastic head and foot panels that cover a head and foot wall region of the mattress as well as extending around the corner of the mattress to cover a substantial portion of the opposing side walls of the mattress. This allows for the mattress to have a greater fit and prevents the mattress cover from slipping off the mattress. Furthermore the present invention allows for a more pleasing appearance at the corners of the mattress, as excess material is unnecessary to ensure proper fit. Additionally, the mattress cover can employ the use of multiple elastic portions which allow the bed sheet with elastic panels to have corner seams matching the corners of the mattress so as to ensure maximum tension to secure the bed sheet to the mattress.

Additional features, advantages, and embodiments of the invention may be set forth or apparent from consideration of the following detailed description, drawings, and claims. It is to be understood that both the foregoing summary of the invention and the following detailed description are exemplary and intended to provide further explanation without limiting the scope of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate preferred embodiments of the invention and together with the detail description serve to explain the principles of the invention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the bed sheet with elastic head, foot and side panels according to the present invention formed of continuous pieces of elastic material;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the bed sheet according to the present invention in which the elastic side panels have a longer bottom than top; ;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bed sheet with elastic panels according to the present invention in which the side panels are formed of different elastic pieces than the head and foot panels;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the bed sheet with elastic panels according to the present invention in which the side panels are formed of different elastic pieces than the head and foot panels, and the side panels have a longer bottom than top ; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the bed sheet according to an embodiment of the present invention from under the mattress.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the drawings wherein like references numerals designate corresponding parts throughout several views, FIGS. 1-4 illustrate a bed sheet having elastic head, foot and side panels according to the present invention.

Specifically shown in FIG. 1 is a bed sheet 101 with elastic side panels 107. The bed sheet is shown fitted to a convention mattress (mattress not shown). The mattress may be any mattress size or configuration. Additionally the mattress may encompasses not only standard spring and box mattress types, but any mattress-like device, including, but not limited to water-bed bladders, air mattresses, foam or gel mattresses and other bedding devices.

The bed sheet material has a roughly rectangular shape with a top portion 105 made of typical mattress cover material, e.g., quilted cotton. The sheet material has side panels 107, covering opposing side wall areas of the mattress. The side panels have parts 109 made of elastic material. Further, the side panels have a top portion 106 and a bottom portion 108 with a length that is equal to, but preferably shorter than, the length of the mattress, so that the elastic part 109 is stretched and tightly holds the bed sheet material to the mattress. The bottom portion 108 of the elastic part 109 of the side panel has a length that is at most equal in length to the top portion 106 of the elastic part. The mattress sheet 101 also has a head panel (not shown) and a foot panel 111 both made of elastic material. The head and foot panels are configured so that the head and foot panel cover the head and foot end portions of the mattress (not shown). Additionally, each elastic head and foot panel also extends about mattress corner 113 to opposing elastic portions 109 of the mattress side wall.

The bed sheet material and the elastic panel material may be joined by seams, fasteners or any other means of joining fabric. One skilled in the art would recognize the types of materials capable of being joined and used in the material sheet and elastic panels.

As shown in FIG. 2 the material sheet side panel 107 is configured so that the top portion 106 of elastic part 109 is very small, so the length of the non-elastic cloth portion is approximately the length of the mattress. At the bottom portion 108 the elastic part has a significant length, approximately the same as in FIG. 1, so that the length of the non-elastic cloth portion is significantly shorter than the mattress length. In this configuration of the material bed sheet side panel 107, the non-elastic cloth section has a roughly trapezoidal shape. As shown in FIG. 2, when the non-elastic part of the bed sheet side panel 107 has a trapezoidal shape, the opposing portions 109 (shown shaded) of the elastic part of the side panel possess a complementary shape so as to allow the joining of the elastic and not elastic portions so as to avoid a significant overlap of material. Those skilled in the art would recognize the configurations of complementary shapes available that allow the panels to be joined without significant material overlap.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the elastic side panels 109 are continuous with, the head and foot panels 111 at the mattress corners 113. Because of the elasticity of the material, the corners will have a neat appearance. Further, since a bottom edge 115 of the bed sheet material (FIG. 5) extends under the mattress at least at the corners, the bed sheet material fits snugly and securely on the mattress. The bottom edge may be made of cloth or an elastic material. Because the top and bottom portions of the elastic panels 109 have the same length in FIG. 1, they apply uniform stress on the corners. However, the trapezoidal configuration in FIG. 2 applies more stress on the bottom portions of the corners, which helps to keep the bed sheet on the mattress.

As shown in FIG. 3, a bed sheet 101 with elastic panels such as that of FIG. 1, has separate elastic side panels 109, which are connected to at least one of the head and foot panels 111, as opposed to being continuous with the head and foot panels 111 as in FIGS. 1 and 2. The at least two individual elastic portions are joined at the corners 113 so as to form corners that overlap and conform to the corners of the mattress. The bed sheet with elastic panels as shown in FIG. 3 has the elastic side panels 109 having the length for the top and bottom portions the same. Also depicted in FIG. 3, the opposing portions of the elastic panel 109 (shown cross-hatched) are formed and joined with the non-elastic body side panel material so that there is substantially no material overlap.

As shown FIG. 4, there is a bed sheet 101 with elastic panels as in FIG. 2; wherein the length of the top portion 106 of the non-elastic material body side panel 107 is longer than the length of the bottom portion 108, so that the partial part has a trapezoidal shape and the elastic side panel portions have triangular shapes 109. The triangular shapes 109 are of separate materials than the foot and head panels 111, and are joined thereto.

Based upon the discussion above, the bed sheet with elastic side panels of the present invention solves the problems and drawbacks highlighted and found throughout the prior art. The bed sheet with elastic side panels is formed so as to maintain a more secure grip on the mattress without the use of unnecessary or wasteful excess material. The prior art failed to provide for a mattress or bed sheet that maintained proper appearance and fit when used on a variety of mattress thicknesses. The bed sheet of the present invention with elastic side panels covers the corners of the mattress with elastic material, thereby allowing for a more even fit and smoother appearance This is accomplished by extending the elastic material so that it covers not only the head and foot panels, but additionally a portion of the opposing side wall portions of the mattress. The return force exerted by the elastic portions ensures that the fit and appearance of the bed sheet are optimal. Lastly, the present invention allows for a single sheet to be used with a number of mattresses of varying thickness, while simultaneously preserving a neat and ordered appearance to the mattress.

Although particular embodiments of the invention have been described in detail herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those particular embodiments, and that various changes and modifications may be effected therein by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims. 

1. A bed sheet with elastic panels comprising: a material body configured to substantially cover a top of a mattress and parts of opposing portions of the side walls of the mattress; and an elastic head panel and an elastic foot panel configured to cover the head end portion and foot end portion of the mattress; and elastic side panels located adjacent the mattress corners, the head and foot panels being further configured to attach to and cooperate with the elastic side patents to cover the end corners of the mattress, the elastic side panels being configured to be joined to the material body parts opposing portions of the side walls of the mattress so as to not substantially overlap the elastic and material portions.
 2. A bed sheet according to claim 1 wherein the elastic head and foot portions are configured of separate portions joined together with the elastic side portions at the apex of each corner of the mattress.
 3. A bed sheet according to claim 1 wherein the elastic head and foot portions are configured of a single piece of elastic material configured to extend into and form the elastic side portions at the apex of each corner of the mattress.
 4. A bed sheet as in any one of claims 1, 2 and 3, wherein the material side panels have a top portion and a bottom portion and wherein the top and bottom portions are of the same length.
 5. A bed sheet as in any one of claims 1, 2 and 3 wherein the material side panels have a top portion and a bottom portion and wherein the top portion and the bottom portion are of unequal lengths.
 6. A bed sheet as in any one of claims 1, 2 and 3 wherein the elastic head and foot panels are joined to the material side panels so that there is no overlap of material.
 7. A bed sheet as in any one of claims 1, 2 and 3 further including a bottom edge of the bed sheet material that extends under the mattress at least at the corners.
 8. A bed sheet as in claim 7 wherein the bottom edge is elastic. 